6 AWS Mistakes That Quietly Drain Your Wallet (and How I Avoid Them)
When I started with AWS, I thought the scary part would be learning the services. It wasn't. The scary part was opening my billing page and not understanding a charge.
Here are the six mistakes that catch most beginners, and the quick fix for each.
1. Not setting a budget alert on day one
Before you launch anything, open AWS Budgets and create a small monthly budget with an email alert. It takes about two minutes and saves you from surprises.
Before you launch anything, open AWS Budgets and create a small monthly budget with an email alert. It takes about two minutes and saves you from surprises.
2. Forgetting resources after you finish testing
EC2 instances, RDS databases, and load balancers keep charging while they sit idle. Get in the habit of deleting what you've finished with, and tag test resources (for example
EC2 instances, RDS databases, and load balancers keep charging while they sit idle. Get in the habit of deleting what you've finished with, and tag test resources (for example
project=learning) so you can find and clean them up later.3. Leaving unattached resources behind
Deleting an instance doesn't always delete its EBS volumes or snapshots. Check for leftovers. Also remember that public IPv4 addresses are billed hourly, even when you're not using them heavily.
Deleting an instance doesn't always delete its EBS volumes or snapshots. Check for leftovers. Also remember that public IPv4 addresses are billed hourly, even when you're not using them heavily.
4. Underestimating NAT Gateways
They're great for letting private subnets reach the internet, but you pay an hourly charge plus data processing. For a small learning project, check whether you really need one.
They're great for letting private subnets reach the internet, but you pay an hourly charge plus data processing. For a small learning project, check whether you really need one.
5. Using the root account for everything
Create an IAM user or use IAM Identity Center for daily work, and turn on MFA for the root account. This is about security, but a compromised account is also the fastest way to a surprise bill.
Create an IAM user or use IAM Identity Center for daily work, and turn on MFA for the root account. This is about security, but a compromised account is also the fastest way to a surprise bill.
6. Never checking Cost Explorer
Make it a weekly habit. Two minutes of looking at what's costing you money teaches you more about AWS pricing than most tutorials.
Make it a weekly habit. Two minutes of looking at what's costing you money teaches you more about AWS pricing than most tutorials.
My checklist before I log off:
- Anything running that I don't need?
- Any unattached volumes or IPs?
- Budget alert still active?
AWS has a Free Tier, but it has limits, and it's easy to go past them without noticing.
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